thoughtsinsport.com

Month: June 2017

In November 2017, Stacey Frances of Sports Coach UK reported to Skythat “Only 10 per cent of UK coaches are women, which is a problem,”. If she is right, that is a stark statistic. A coach tracking study undertaken by Sports Coach UK in 2012 identified 30% of the coaching population to be made up of women. So, which is accurate? Probably both; the first statistic may be to be referring to the ratio within the British Olympic Team, whilst the latter encompasses all categories including volunteers. That same report also identified that women make up only 18% of the qualified coaching workforce. None of these figures reflects the UK society gender ratio of 51% of women.

As part of a continuing social trend, various movements have been established with the aim of increasing women’s involvement in previously male dominated environments, of which sports coaching is no exception. The Women’s Sport Foundation, started by Billie Jean King to advance the lives of girls through sport and physical activity, produced a hard hitting statement to address several ‘myths’ around the premisethat women prefer male coaches. In a similar vein to Stacey France’s comment, it appears to take a relatively extreme view by focussing strongly on the problem rather than seeking to address the solution. This use of a Critical Theory approach (Coakley, 2009) may have the desired effect of raising profile but does not necessarily win support. On the other hand, some sports still retain values firmly based in the interests of men with power. Where such sports are global, and ownership sits within countries whose cultures have moved very little with the times, even a hardcore Feminist Theory approach would have little impact.

Evidence of Change

Nevertheless, there is growing evidence from interviews, shifts in theemphasis of NGBs and research (Light, 2013) to suggest that the sporting landscape is changing and female coaches are gaining credibility. It is easier in some sports to make the transition towards a gender balance of coaches. In my sport of hockey, whilst I identify with the 30% figure quoted by Sports Coach UK in 2012, I see a more equitable state of affairs. The Regional Performance Centre set up in Bristol, this year, has a female manager in charge, a male lead coach and coaches in the ratio of 50:50, albeit 3:1 in favour of the sex being coached. In the Regional Women’s Premier League in which I coach, 40% of the head coaches are women, although there are no female coaches in the parallel men’s league. Additionally, hockey coaches in schools locally are predominantly female. However, as far as I can ascertain, the approach taken by England Hockey has been to recruit and develop the best coaches they can and it does not have an overt policy to recruit women. That said, this is a sport with a good gender balance and where, in the public eye, women have the spotlight.

In other, male dominated sports, changing the fabric will take longer. A more successful policy in such an environment may be to stay grounded in the continuing change of social order and shifting culture clearly expressed in the Coaching Plan for England (2016) , rather than force supporters of the status quo to dig in. This aligns with the Interactionist Social Theory and a bottom up approach that is slowly seeing women moving into positions that can help shape organizations into becoming more open and democratic. However, it does not address the economic power issues based on exploitation and wealth creation. This is a matter much wider that the topic we are discussing today!

Other Factors

Trying to address social issues in a pragmatic way, and working through institutions to change a social construct in a manner, consistent with Functionalist Social Theory, may have unintended consequences. The US Government attempted to adjust the system top down in 1972 with the introduction of Title IX legislation, which prohibited sexed based discrimination on any education or activity based programme receiving federal funding. By 2012, the numbers of college women’s teams coached by women dropped from 90% to 42.9% and men’s teams coached by women remained around 2%. With it has come further conflict.

There are also some practical issues around the type of work and associated demands that may not be as attractive to women as men. That has been highlighted recently by Leanne Norman (2016) where she has used the Keyes’ Model of well-being to examine women in coaching. Again she points to the need for system change to enable women coaches to flourish.

Accelerating Progress

How else can we accelerate the slow wind of change and start to influence the inclusion of more female coaches of male teams and in performance areas, in particular? An illuminating document produced by Sports Coach UK and the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation about the coaching of women, highlighted the different response in intellectual function, base reaction to stimulae, stress response, innate interests, survival strategies and methods of processing information of males and females. It could be argued that there is a similar difference in a female coach’s approach to these factors that is more in line with the requirements of the increasingly valued athlete-centred approach to coaching (Mageau and Vallarand, 2003). Two things might happen: if the emphasis of coach education follows this expressed wisdom of how to maximise athletes’ potential, then women may be more inclined to take qualifications and stay with coaching as a career and; employers may see that women possess a more appropriate skills-set to meet the challenges of the coaching environment. So men better watch out!

Norman, L, and Rankin-Wright, A. (2016) Surviving rather than Thriving; Understanding the Experiences of Women Coaches using a theory of gendered social well-being, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 1-27

Adaptation is the “process whereby a population becomes better suited to its habitat”. I like this definition because it is concise, to the point and has a wide range of implications for coaching beyond purely the physiological response to training. The athletes we coach will be molded, adapted, by the habitat and environment that we create around them. When dealing with young athletes, this is quite the responsibility and the importance of the coach in their development is clear. I believe that consideration of adaptation is also important when dealing with change to the environment or routine. In this blog, I’ll consider the role of challenge in helping athletes develop and adapt to higher competition, how I have utilized adaptation in my coaching and, finally, how I personally have adapted as a coach.

“Periodised Challenge”

Nearly two years ago, I drove to the midlands to visit Denstone College and their then Director of Rugby, Jamie Taylor. It was an interesting learning experience for me, with three words that really stuck out – “challenge and support”. Jamie explained how it was critical to their vision for developing the young student sportsmen and sportswomen at the school. Within a year, the following tweet caught my eye:

There was the word challenge again. Stuart’s tweet linked to this article, explaining how Manchester United set in place a plan whereby Rashford would occasionally train with the Under 21s to give him exposure to competition that was tougher than what he was used to at Under 18. However, rather than simply remove him from the U18s, it was his fluctuation between the two groups that they believed was crucial to his development. In this case, Rashford was adapting to the challenge of his U21 counterparts over time, thus making his U18 performances even more noticeable and “easier”. This shows that the process of adaptation isn’t just physiological – it can also be technical, tactical, psychological and sociological. Even Tom Brady, arguably the greatest Quarter Back of all time, references the importance of challenge in his own, ongoing, development.

The Importance of Individualisation

What worked for Marcus Rashford may not have worked for all young players. The adaptation process is more than just applying a programme and expecting it to work – individual athletes will respond differently when undertaking an identical session (Kiely, 2012). Maro Itoje is one of the most impressive young players in world rugby. His development continued at such a pace that Saracens had to ignore the plan that they had in place for him, unable to “hold him back any more”. This highlights the importance of knowing, and truly understanding, the athletes that you work with. Whilst Itoje was highly impressive on and off the pitch, that may not be the case for all individuals and the external pressures (education, work, family) can have a significant impact. I am soon to finish my third season as coach for a University rugby team, however I learnt quickly that my situation was slightly different to the norm – I coach the medics. Existing within a university, but as an entirely separate club, the medics posed interesting problems to me as a coach because of their intense work schedule. Our first season was troubled with constant injuries for which there may have been many reasons – training methods, conditioning, lifestyle, bad luck etc. But I soon realised it was important that the players were able to be honest about their work load, and therefore be allowed to miss training or matches accordingly. Research has found that the chance of injuries doubles during periods of high academic stress for college athletes (Mann, Bryant, Johnstone, Ivey and Sayers, 2016). I needed to be aware of these periods, either individually or across the squad, and manage training as a result.

My Coaching

One area that I have embraced the notion of adaptation within my coaching is when it comes to fatigue. Research has found that there is a significant detriment in performance under fatigue (Lyons, Al-Nakeeb and Nevill, 2006) caused by a deterioration of both cognitive and psychomotor skills (Kahal et al, 2008) and ability to perceive visual information (Hancock and McNaughton, 1986). When practicing a learned skill (i.e. not new information), we therefore try to combine it with our conditioning work. Not only does this make the conditioning more fun and rugby-specific, but it also tests their skills under fatigue. This should, hopefully, transfer to executing skills when tired during competition. Recently many journalists picked up on Eddie Jones’ use of ‘tactical periodisation’ as taken from football. I’d argue that this isn’t necessarily as new to rugby as the article asserts, however it is further proof of coaches finding ways to help their athletes adapt to, and beyond, the level demanded of them in competition.

Personal Adaptation

During my coaching career, I have undergone a number of changes to my style, outlook, personality. Some are very small and subtle, others more obvious. However, I have made a purposeful effort to work in varying environments and meet lots of different people. At first, and to a degree still, this was majorly outside my comfort zone. Importantly, I noticed the improvements as a result and keep forcing myself to do it. Whether this is working with players who are much younger than I am used to, or working with adults, or coaching with both genders – all have provided learning experiences that allow me to adapt and evolve.

When we make those adaptations, we discover new facets of ourselves. This is an excellent blog post, highlighting the potential benefits of seeking new environments. On a personal level, I am undoubtedly an improved coach for working in various coaching domains. Furthermore, it has allowed me to be adaptable when there is a significant, but unexpected, change. Whether on a small scale with players missing from training limiting what I had planned, or to big events like new coaching roles. In considering the latter point, earlier in my career I was often focused on MY role within the new role and how it made ME feel and act. Nowadays I realise that, in taking a new role, the athletes themselves are undergoing a change too – new vocabulary, new methods, new priorities. I feel that the following video, on change management, is just as useful for coaches as it is for executives:

Conclusion

Adaptation, therefore, is more than just bicep size or VO2 max. It can effect both the coaches and the athletes in a number of ways. What works for one athlete may not work for all. It is crucial for coaches to be aware of this and to understand how to manage change personally and how to assist their athletes to do the same.